Test Engineer
Salary

Test Engineers in the United States take home approximately $69K per year on average. Cash earnings for Test Engineers — including $8K in bonuses and $10K in profit sharing proceeds near the top of the pay scale — generally stretch from $48K to $96K depending on individual performance. The most influential factor affecting pay for this group is the specific employer, though the particular city and experience level have a (lesser) impact as well. Work is enjoyable for Test Engineers, who typically claim high levels of job satisfaction. Among survey respondents, men are more common than women; 89 percent of Test Engineers are male. Medical benefits are awarded to a large number, and most earn dental coverage. The figures in this rundown are based on the results of PayScale's salary questionnaire.

XTotal Pay combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare).

XTotal Pay combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare).

Job Description for Test Engineer

Test engineers are involved in creating and designing processes or experiments to test the quality of a product to be manufactured. Test engineers mainly deal with the inner workings of computer hardware and software; however, many test engineers work with a variety of different fields and test a wide range of equipment and products, from medical equipment such as X-ray machines to commercial transportation vehicles like airplanes. Some independence is expected of test engineers, so they must be able to work both on their own as well as with others as a team. These engineers work hand in hand with the hardware and software engineers to try to achieve a near flawless product. In these group settings, the engineers are involved in reviewing the many steps in designing a product. Test engineers are responsible for reviewing the initial schematics, the electrical wiring and finally the debugging towards the end. Despite working with others, most of the time the test engineers are left to themselves to decide whether the final product is of desirable quality. Test engineers have the last say in determining quality in many situations. To be a test engineer, one must have at least a bachelor’s in computer science, or something similar to that field such as electrical engineering. A master’s or PhD in these fields would be ideal for certain test engineer positions. They need to be familiar in various programming languages, such as Java or C++, as they will be involved in debugging various aspects of software. Additionally, prospective test engineers should be creative, have good problem solving skills, and work well under stressful situations.

Test Engineer Tasks

Provide test result information to other teams to improve product quality.

Common Career Paths for Test Engineer

Plan your career path. Drag job titles to investigate a particular path and click on a link to see where particular career can lead.

Test Engineers' salaries may rise greatly for those who assume a higher-end position such as a Test Engineering Manager. The average Test Engineering Manager bring home $103K per year. The most common promotion for Test Engineers is Senior Test Engineer, a position that typically pays $86K annually. Another standard transition for Test Engineers seeking advancement is to assume an Electrical Test Engineer role, where pay is often $64K.

Test Engineer Job Listings

Search for more jobs:

Job Title/Company

Location

Popular Employer Salaries for Test Engineer

Many Test Engineers can be found at The Boeing Company, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin Corp, Texas Instruments, Inc., and Cisco Systems Inc, firms that are at the top of the field. Although Cisco Systems Inc heads up the field in terms of compensation, offering the highest median salary at $93K, pay at this particular employer still varies considerably, running the full spectrum from $61K to $127K. Other big spenders include Qualcomm Inc, Northrop Grumman Corporation, and Texas Instruments, Inc., top-paying firms where Test Engineers see paychecks nearing $85K, $85K, or $83K.

Not only do salaries lack room to grow — pay ranges from $50K to just $82K — but Lockheed Martin Corp offers the lowest pay in town to boot, with a median paycheck of $62K. Workers at Flextronics International, Micron Technology, Inc., and Raytheon Co. also face smaller salaries than the rest of the field — average earnings for these employers come to $64K, $67K, and $68K respectively.

Popular Skills for Test Engineer

This chart shows the most popular skills for this job and what effect each skill has on pay.

Survey results imply that Test Engineers deploy a deep pool of skills on the job. Most notably, skills in Software Test, Project Management, Labview, and Test Automation are correlated to pay that is above average, with boosts in pay of 6 percent. Most people skilled in System Testing are similarly competent in Test Planning.

Pay by Experience Level for Test Engineer

Median of all compensation (including tips, bonus, and overtime) by years of experience.

Test Engineers with a lot of experience do not necessarily enjoy more money. Salaries of relatively inexperienced workers fall in the neighborhood of $63K, but folks who have racked up five to 10 years see a notably higher median of $74K. On average, Test Engineers make $80K following one to two decades on the job. In the end, the overall pattern seems to be that more experience generally corresponds to higher pay; a Test Engineer with more than 20 years of experience can earn $87K on average.

Pay Difference by Location

With a pay rate for Test Engineers that is 26 percent greater than the national average, San Jose offers a comfortable salary for those in this profession. Test Engineers will also find cushy salaries in Sunnyvale (+18 percent), Austin (+16 percent), San Diego (+9 percent), and Washington (+9 percent). Falling short of the national average by 15 percent, the area with the worst salaries is Baltimore. Employers in Colorado Springs and Houston also lean toward paying below-median salaries (12 percent lower and 9 percent lower, respectively).

Test Engineer Reviews

What is it like working as a Test Engineer?

Test Engineer in Lisle:

"Organize Tests, Manage work load, analyze results, write rep."

Pros: Dynamic work with new challenges every project. Manage projects. Great office.

Cons: Workload very heavy at times. Priority projects come through and make other projects late.